The Night Circus

The third part of the novel opens in 1899, on the thirteenth anniversary of the party held at Chandresh’s home that resulted in the establishment of the Night Circus. All of the novel’s main characters attend the party, including the Man in Grey. After the Man in Grey catches Celia and Marco in a romantic embrace away from the rest of the party, he chastises Marco for his increasing intimacy with Celia. Marco explains that he is in love with Celia, to which the Man in Grey responds, “I am sorry to hear that...it will make the challenges a great deal more difficult for you” (302). Marco asks to quit the competition, feeling that he cannot compete against the woman he loves, but the Man in Grey refuses. Marco then races away to the ballroom, grabs Celia and kisses her in front of all the other guests, something which shocks everyone in attendance, for the entire world spins around Celia and Marco as they kiss, “the air swirls in a tempest around them, blowing open the glass door to the garden with a tangle of billowing curtains” (309). Marco then walks away and, feeling he has made a terrible mistake, erases the memories of everyone at the party, including Celia’s,an act which leaves her “trembling” (309) with fear and confusion.

Later, Bailey and Poppet visit the cloud maze at the Night Circus. As they wander together, they share stories of their childhoods. However, though they have been in the maze together before, they quickly become trapped in a cage. Soon after, Bailey finds a hidden key that releases them from the cage, something which impresses Poppet. Once they are free, Poppet runs back to her tent to prepare for her show and Bailey wanders into a tent full of a number of tiny bottles, each of which, he discovers, release a unique odor that induces a different hallucinatory experience. When he opens a bottle that smells of bonfire and caramel, Bailey is carried into a confusing, violent scene in which he senses, “the scent of wool and sweat ... the impression of people wearing masks ... the smell of bonfire ... something grey. A sharp pain in his chest. The sensation of falling. A sound like a howling wind, or a screaming girl” (316).

The narrative shifts again, this time to 1900. Chandresh studies a series of blueprints and plans for the Night Circus. He has felt a deep sense of fear and dread about the circus for several months, though he does not know why. He has begun drinking brandy regularly in order to ease his anxiety. Due to his heavy drinking, he is no longer able to controls the circus himself. He feels a deep sense of concern and becomes increasingly paranoid about Marco, who he believes has been keeping secret notes about the circus. He breaks into Marco’s office and locates a thick, leather-bound notebook in which he find a drawing of a tree surrounded by the personal signatures of all the people who are involved in the operations of the circus, “though one name is conspicuously absent, and another has been removed” (327). When discovered by Marco and confronted about what he is doing, Chandresh suddenly forgets all about the book and is baffled as to why he is even in Marco’s office.

A year later, after their shared kiss at Chandresh’s party, Marco watches Celia’s performance. Afterwards, Marco tells Celia about a new circus tent he has prepared especially for her, one which he transports her to through mind control. Celia finds herself, quite suddenly, in the middle of a forest in which all of the trees are composed of “typeset letters overlapping handwritten text. Celia can make out snatches of Shakespearean sonnets and fragments of hymns to Greek goddesses as the poetry fills the text. It covers the walls and the ceiling and spreads out over the floor (343). Marco explains that he has made these unique circus tents so he can communicate with Celia when they are physically separated from each other. As they walk through the forest of poems together, the two discuss their continued confusion as to the reason for and rules of their upcoming competition, as well as the personalities of their respective magical trainers. Celia explains Prospero’s fate to Marco, telling him how Prospero, attempting to make himself both invisible and able to occupy more than one place at a time, began to practice separating himself into atoms and then pulling himself back together again. However, his experiments became too bold and grandiose, and he lost the ability to reassemble himself, which has resulted in him existing, now, in a phantom state, able to be in more than one place at a time, though different pieces of himself have begun to drift away, forcing him to “cling to things” (346) that are familiar to him. She points out the irony of Prospero’s predicament: he has found the immortality he always desired but is unable to keep himself whole. Enjoying each other’s company, and finding that their love is growing stronger, Marco attempts to persuade Celia to run away with him: “Come away with me ... Anywhere. Away from the circus ... away from your father ... you and I together, we could do anything” (350). Celia tells him that they will never be able to do so and that their fate is predestined. She explains that when she has tried to run away previously, the burning pain from the ring she was given as a child—a ring which she cannot remove—causes her to faint. Marco admits that he too has been unable to run away for the same reason, and he realizes that the spells that have been cast upon them forbids them from abandoning their destined duel. Celia and Marco realize, then, that they will be magically bonded to both each other and the circus itself forever, and that they will never be able to escape until one of them defeats the other. As he leaves, Marco gives Celia his address in London and tells her she is welcome to visit him anytime.

The narrative skips to 1902. Bailey is working on his farm when Poppet suddenly appears and asks him to leave with her when the Night Circus departs that night. She explains that she does not know why Bailey must leave with her, only that she has had an intense vision that suggests that Bailey will come to play an important role in the circus and that its very survival depends upon him. She explains to Bailey—who does not understand how he could be so important to the circus, given his lack of magical powers—that she has been having vague visions of Bailey saving the circus from destruction for quite some time. She kisses Bailey on the mouth before she disappears and Bailey realizes that he will follow her anywhere she asks him to, telling her, “I’m going with you. I promise” (359).

The story returns to 1901. On Halloween night,Marco confronts Isobel in her tarot card room and tells her that he has never truly been in love with her. She has suspected as much for quite some time, but did not truly believe it until Marco tells her so. Marco quickly leaves the heart-broken Isobel. In a blind rage, Isobel locates a tarot card, a handkerchief of Celia’s, and a hat belonging to Marco, all of which are tied together by a ribbon. Isobel tears the ribbon to pieces, separating the items, and breaking the magical spell of “temperance” (371) that she had earlier cast, which holds the circus together and protect the performers from harm.

Exactly a year later, Poppet and Widget wait for Bailey at the front gates of the circus, feeling certain that the end of the circus is coming, especially if Bailey does not arrive soon. Widget asks Poppet if they should consider kidnapping Bailey in order to keep the circus safe, but Poppet refuses.

The story returns to Halloween of 1901. Herr Thiessen joins the circus performers for a masquerade party. He moves through the party as if he is in a dream. Suddenly, as the Man in Grey follows Herr Thiessen, the circus falls into chaos: a kitten flies into the air, the bonfire sputters, an acrobat falls to her death, and Marco collapses. Chandresh, feeling the Man in Grey is responsible for these happenings, throws a knife toward him in order to kill him. However, the knife hits Herr Thiessen instead, and kills him. Poppet watches as the blood of Herr Thiessen covers the ground and she screams. The Man in Grey calmly takes the knife from Herr Thiessen’s chest, places it in Marco’s hand and walks away, leaving the watching patrons to “assume it was a clever stunt, a touch of theatricality for the already festive evening” (375), when, in fact, the events were real.

The narrative shifts again to Halloween of 1902. At home, Bailey desperately tries to decide what he needs to do. Accepting his intrinsic connection to the circus, he decides to join it in order to meet his fate. Upon arriving at the circus, though, Bailey finds that it has disappeared without a trace.

The story moves back to Halloween of 1901. The Man in Grey confronts Prospero outside of the circus. He tells Prospero that Celia has weakened and that, even if she was to somehow win the competition, she will despise Prospero for eternity. At the same time, Celia rushes to Marco’s apartment. There, she explains that she thinks Isobel had cast a protective spell over the circus that has been broken. Marco explains that when he placed the signatures of all the circus goers in his book in order to provide them with a form of magical protection, he never included Herr Thiessen’s signature. As a result, Marco feels responsible for Herr Thiessen’s death. Celia explains that despite her magical ability to heal people, she was unable to heal Herr Thiessen. She tells Marco that she is “tired of trying to hold things together that cannot be held ... trying to control what cannot be controlled. I am tired of denying myself what I want for fear of breaking things I cannot fix. They will break no matter ...” (385). She and Marco then make love together for the first time. When Marco awakens the next morning, he finds that Celia has already left and taken his magical book with her.